Thai-spiced Pumpkin Soup
Recipe

This pumpkin soup recipe is so perfect for this time of year that I can't help sharing it with you. That being said, I've got about 15 minutes of battery left on my laptop (with no power source in sight), so this write-up is going to be quick.

The other night after toasting pumpkin seeds the oven was hot so I cut both a small pumpkin and acorn squash in half, slathered them with butter, kissed them with a sprinkling of salt and in they went. I forgot about them for about an hour as they roasted and then removed them when they looked perfectly bronzed and a poke with a fork confirmed their tenderness. Although I was tempted to eat them just like that, I resisted and put the flesh into a pot with coconut milk, water, and a good amount of spicy Thai curry paste. There was just a whirl of the hand blender between me and a stunning, rich, flavorful soup. Less than five ingredients, about 90 seconds of active cooking time. Couldn't be easier.

It wasn't my intention to write up the recipe for 101 Cookbooks, so I wasn't paying particularly close attention to exact ingredient amounts. No worries though, this is a soup that might very well be impossible to screw up.

Thai-spiced Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Keep in mind that different Thai curry pastes have differing strengths. Start with a teaspoon to start and then build from there until the soup has a level of spiciness and flavor that works for your palete. Top with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place the oven racks in the middle.

Carefully cut each squash/pumpkin into halves (or quarters). Slather each piece of squash with butter, sprinkle generously with salt, place on a baking sheet skin sides down, and place in the oven. Roast for about an hour or until the squash is tender throughout.

When the pumpkin/squash are cool enough to handle scoop it into a large pot over medium high heat. Add the coconut milk and curry paste and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and puree with a hand blender, you should have a very thick base at this point. Now add water a cup at a time pureeing between additions until the soup is the consistency you prefer - a light vegetable stock would work here as well. Bring up to a simmer again and add the salt (and more curry paste if you like, I used just shy of 6 teaspoons but the curry paste I use is not over-the-top spicy).

Clever girl. I, too, would have been tempted to eat it straight from the oven with fresh grinds of Seschuan pepper. But you exhibited such discipline turning it into a luscious soup! Thanks for the idea.

Perfect use for all those pumpkins that the grocery stores have on the post-Halloween sale...
I could see myself varying this recipe in a million different ways- add some tamarind for tang, or sour cream if I'm feeling "dairy"... mmmmm!

Heidi, how totally shibby. I was wondering what to do with the left over pumpkins I have lying about. Now, I nust need a blender or hand blender...
(My old one broke)

November 2, 2006

andrew

i've been making a soup like that for a few autumns now. brown some onions and add a good amount of black pepper and ginger, raw [or powdered i guess] and fry it up some more. add chopped butternut squash and water/stock, bring to boil, then simmer for awhile. blenderize then strain, adding a can of coconut milk and good soy sauce. soooo good during the fall and winter.

That's funny, I made a pumpkin coconut milk soup tonight too. Mine had pumpkin and butternut squash, but I was lazy and used cans (it was the organic, good stuff at least, ok?). Served up with some savory french toast - I did pumpernickel bread with curry eggs - and those roasted pumpkin seeds. Yum.

Gorgeous ... sad thing is though, that Australia doesn't celebrate Halloween as it is celebrated in the US... so not so many pumpkins lying around looking for second lives. But the combination of pumpkin and coconut and Thai flavours seem to me to be as natural as bacon and eggs....

heidi, that looks amazing. i've been craving something pumpkin recently because of halloween and i haven't been able to find anything pumpkin in any of the stores here in paris. i guess they're just not really into that over here. oh how i miss pumpkin pie. ah! thanks for the recipe. i'm excited to try this!

November 4, 2006

kari

thanks for the idea heidi - i just made this soup the other night but used kabocha squash and cut in half drizzled w/ xvoo seasoned and put on sheet pan w/ water and tented it w/ foil and roasted til tender. sauteed some onion garlic and ginger in coconut oil added yellow curry paste, squash, veg stock and coconut milk and pureed and balanced it w/ lime and agave. next time i think i'll stay w/ the red curry paste. the yellow tastes too much like that nut - can't think of the name but very strong.

November 4, 2006

ali

You inspired me! I made something very similar to this recipe this evening and it was one of the most delicious soups I've ever had and very easy to make. I used butternut instead of pumkin, and unfortunately, my oven is broken so I wasn't able to roast the squash. I used a green curry paste since I didn't have the red curry. My very picky husband love it and it's another recipe to add to my "regulars".

November 4, 2006

Renee

I usually further enhance this taste thrill of a soup by adding a good handful of frozen prawns/shrimps or whatever you call them in your neck of the woods and garnish each yummy bowl with a sprig of either fresh basil or coriander (cilantro?) Mmmm! To die for!

I made it over the weekend. Rainy day, bright orange soup with a lot of taste. It was wonderful and wonderfully easy.

November 6, 2006

Lisa

For all of you dairy-free people out there who like the idea of mixing pumpkins and coconut milk together, I recently baked a pumpkin pie substituting watered-down coconut milk for evaporated milk. I used real baked pumpkins, but followed the recipe on the back of the Libby's canned pumpkin. The batter ended up being too watery, so I simmered it on the stove for about 10 minutes before putting the pie in the oven. It came out really well and I couldn't taste the difference!

November 6, 2006

lisa

Yum! My fiancee and I made this soup this weekend with 2 sugar pumpkins and about 5 acorn squash. Before adding the coconut milk (we used 3 cans of the light stuff) to the squash, we warmed it up with 3 kaffir lime leaves, 2 stalks of lemongrass, 2 slices of galanga and 2 cloves of garlic along with the curry paste. So ridiculously good. And now we have a huge pot, ready for freezing.

Thanks for the great idea, we had people over and everyone loved this soup!

I like pumpkin very much and don't now a lot of recipes how to cook it. Only baked in oven with root vegetables and pumpkin pies. Thank you for this wonderful idea .I'll try and I am sure it'll be one of my favorites soups.

November 7, 2006

kristin

I made this last night with great anticipation with pumpkin only. Overall, the results were disappointing. Despite a heft dose of red curry paste, the flavor was rather bland. Perhaps the addition of sauteed onions, pepper and ginger as recommended by Andrew. Needs something to kick up the flavors.

November 8, 2006

Paula

This inspired me too...but I agree with Kristin that something is needed to kick up the flavor a little bit. So here's where I ended up:

I used a 14 oz can of pumpkin, 14 oz can of lite coconut milk, 1 1/2 tsp of curry paste, and two tbsp of butter. Instead of water, I had some liquid Oregon Chai mix, so I added that (probably 1/4 to 1/3 cup, depending on how watery you want it to be) and a little bit of ginger paste -- 1/4 tsp at most. I also threw in some dry roasted pecan pieces.

Now it's very flavorful and I'm enjoying it right now!

November 8, 2006

sarah

I made this tonight using butternut squash and pumpkin, and loved it - the salt was all that was needed to bring out the flavour for me. It got better as it cooled too. I had forgotten that molten pumpkin is one of the most volcanic things I've ever encountered in the kitchen though. A few splashes a good metre up the wall to clean up afterwards!

November 8, 2006

Stella

Love pumpkin, but the only way I cook them is fry them with butter and a little brown sugar. Thanks for the other ideas.

November 9, 2006

jess

made this last night using two acorn squashes with the addition of some sauteed onion and ginger. the boyfriend's eyebrows went up when he tasted it - it was very good.

thanks for the recipe.

November 10, 2006

Bina

Im an ardent fan of Thai cuisine & find it perfectly suited to the Indian taste- get fresh curry paste from a market in Phuket- cant go more authentic than that!! tried the pumpkin soup, garnished with shrimps, fresh coriander & basil- to die for- thanks for the fantastic tip & keep more off beat recipes coming- all the best.

November 11, 2006

Oscar

Hello. Well, more than a comment, I need help, I'm looking for a recipe. By 1996 olympic games I went at a nice restaurant at Atlanta's midtown: Einstein's. The dishes were really good and there was a strong Thai influence. I have never forgotten some delicious "coconut shrimp" they prepared. They came fried into a coconut shell (excuse me please, my technical english is not too bad but if I have to tell a story or something else, I am really lost) and there was a delicious sauce, something like egg yolk (that was the tactile sensation) but the flavour was something sweet and sour, like orange, mandarin orange or something like that. The shrimp came upon a bed of dark, green leafs that remind me a lettuce but darker and very sour. If You can figure what was the dish and if You have the recipe, please let me know.